DOVER - Sandy Taylor has always stressed to his Dover senior girls the need to play aggressive defense, but he wanted that same type of attack on the offensive end Tuesday night.

The Lady Pirates responded well to their coach's orders, attacking the basket at every opportunity en route to a comfortable 67-25 victory over Plainview in non-conference action Tuesday night.

Dover (2-1) scored the first 13 points in the contest to set the stage for the runaway win. Junior Baylea Leavell took charge in the contest, scoring 16 of her 18 points in the first half as the Lady Pirates cruised to a 41-10 lead at intermission.

"I thought we came out very aggressive and attacked the basket tonight," Taylor said. "I told our girls this was a situation where we needed to be aggressive on offense and not hold back, even though some of the shots weren't going to fall. Maybe two weeks down the road, perhaps those shots will fall for us."

Dover needed only six seconds to get on the scoreboard, thanks to Aubrey McDonald's jumper from the wing. The Lady Pirates already had four players to score before Plainview broke into the scoring column on three free throws by Hope Crawford with 4:04 left in the opening period.

Leavell hit a pair of buckets before the Lady Panthers picked up their first bucket, a three-pointer by Katie Yates at the 2:36 mark. Leavell then added three more points, then Marika Moore hit her second three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left, giving Dover a 23-6 cushion at the end of the period.

The Lady Pirates continued the outburst with 14 unanswered points to start the second period. Leah Wiley's free throw and bucket made it a 37-6 game before Plainview ended the run with a bucket by Blanca Ortiz with 3:13 before halftime.

Dover then went on to post a 41-10 halftime margin and led by as much as 40 points before settling for a 56-20 cushion heading into the final period. That caused the "sportsmanship rule" to go into effect, causing the clock to run non-stop through the final period.

"We sure needed a win like this," Taylor said. "We needed a confidence booster after some tough games against CAC and Booneville, and this is something we can carry into the holiday break and on to the Plainview tournament.

"We're searching for an identity right now. With this new group, we've having to figure out how well these players can jel together. I thought we executed very well, and our two goals going into this game was intensity and focus. We accomplished our goals in this game."

McDonald was the only other Lady Pirate in double figures with 10, followed by Moore and Kelly Darby with nine apiece. Crawford finished with nine to lead Plainview.

In boys action Tuesday, Spencer Gay and Jessie Yates combined for 48 points to lead Plainview to a 74-61 victory as Dover suffered its first loss of the season.

Dover (1-1) led 18-15 after one period, but Plainview outscored the Pirates 19-9 in the second quarter and claimed a 34-27 cushion at halftime. The Panthers had their lead whittled to a 51-45 margin at the end of the third quarter before putting the game away.

Gay finished with 26 points, while Yates had 22 for Plainview. Jordan Baumberger led three Dover players in double figures with 14 points, followed by Austin Paxton with 11 and Matt Larue with 10.

Lady Apaches win

BIGELOW - Pottsville's senior girls recorded their first win of the season Tuesday night as the Lady Apaches knocked off Bigelow, 42-36, in non-conference action.

Pottsville (1-3) led 6-5 at the end of the first quarter before going on a 15-7 run in the second period, extending its lead to a 21-12 halftime cushion. Bigelow cut it to 26-20 through three periods, but the Lady Apaches hit 13 of 16 free-throw attempts in the final period to seal the win.

Whitney Harris had 13 points, including a five of six outing at the free-throw line, to lead Pottsville in scoring and also added five steals. Brittany Overturf hit all five free-throw tries and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Lauren Tracy hit all four free throws and finished with six points and six rebounds. Jessica Vinson also had eight rebounds for the Lady Apaches.

Pottsville was scheduled to play Saturday in the Plainview Invitational tournament, but the Lady Apaches were forced to bow out because of lack of players available. They will return to action Dec. 3 with their basketball homecoming against Hector.